Curse of Despair
by crowprincess14
Summary: Duck has been turned back into a human, and life seems perfect. But then why does Fakir see a single black crow outside of his window? FakirxAhiru, MythoxRue, and a bit of AutorxRue. K for violence, language. CURRENTLY ON HOLD.
1. Return

A/N

This really sucks. But some parts are decent, and I would probably get **murdered** by my editor if I didn't, so I decided to put it up.

Sooo, I started this _way_ back in January. And it's my first real fanfiction. So concrit is greatly appreciated. Also, there are probably errors in this chapter, my spell-check was spazzing out on me.

God, this chapter's so rushed -_-

I'll do the disclaimer and stuff in the ending A/N.

**Return**

Fakir frowned down at the paper on the desk and grit his teeth with frustration. _So close, and yet so far, _he thought. It wasn't like the words weren't flowing, or anything. He could probably even complete it now, even. Yet he was having second thoughts.

_Should I go through with this? _he asked himself, glancing at the bird absently preening herself next to him. _I have no idea how much her friends remember her, or how far behind she has gotten in class._ Not to mention he had no idea how old might be in human form now. He shuddered, picturing a 20-year-old Duck appearing next to him. 6 months equals how many duck years?

There was also a feeling, a knight's instinct perhaps, that something very bad was about to happen. Something he didn't want her in the middle of.

But then Fakir remembered dancing with her in the Lake of Despair, how she had so desperately wanted to remain a girl but had chose to give that up to save Mytho. He had no right to deny her her greatest wish, if he could give it to her. Anyway, the Raven was dead, so it wasn't like anything could come out of nowhere and attack, seeing the town was still far away from any other human civilization. No, he must be wrong about that. Plus, he had other, more selfish reasons for wanting her human. As much as Fakir loved Duck the bird and Princess Tutu, it was Duck's girl form who truly held his heart.

_I love you… do you feel the same?_

Fakir was about to start writing again when he realized how exactly she would appear once transformed. He would have a lot of explaining to do to Charon if a naked girl showed up out of nowhere in his room. Trying to keep the blush off of his face, Fakir called her over to him. Duck watched curiously as he pulled out a Goldkrone academy girl's uniform from his dresser.

"It's not like that!" he protested, seeing the look on her face. ''I have this for in case you became human again, and not for anything else" She raised her eyebrows as if to say _Oh really_?

"Yes! Now put this on. More likely than not, you will be human by tomarrow morning. And I'm not taking any chances." For once she did not protest, and put on the clothing as best as she could as a waterfowl.

True to his word, Fakir finished the final sentence shortly before dawn, after several hours of careful word selection, revison and editing. One bad sentence and all his work would be for nothing. She could become a hippo, for heavens sake. At least Autor wasn't here going on and on aboout the wonderfulness of Drosselmyer. After his previous encounter, he had no love for the old writer.

Almost imeadiately after the last word was written, Duck began to feel a familiar tingling sensation as her arms and legs legthened. She looked down at herself. She was a girl again! True, she seemed a year older, maybe around 14 or 15, but that was still better that being trapped as a bird for the rest of her life. And now she was only a year younger than Fakir.

Fakir watched her look down at her self and smiled. He had never felt such pure joy, even when had Mytho defeated the Raven.

"Fakir, I-" she was cut off by the dark haired teen pulling her forward and hugging her close. Later, he would look back at that moment and regret not kissing her.

Far away, in a castle in another kingdom, Rue's head snapped up. She looked anxiously out of the ornate window in the general direction of the town they used to live.

"Something wrong?" asked Mytho, squeezing her hand. "Is it because of those dreams you've been having lately?"

"No," she replied, leaning on his shoulder lovingly, but also was hiding a frown at the mention of her nightmares. "I just have this feeling that something really good just happened!" Her brow creased. "But still. . ." she shook her head. _Better to be safe than to be sorry_. "Tell the servants to pack our bags. We need to go back to GoldKrone."

Drosselmyer chuckled with glee. "You know what this means!" he said, turning to Uzura.

"What-zura?" The young girl had stayed with him after the story ended, although she was considerably less "fun" than he would have hoped. He found himself wishing time and time again that Edel was still alive.

"That a new story is beginning. Oh, this is going to be wonderfully tragic!" he cried as the gears slowly began to spin again.

And in a dark space underneath GoldKrone, another force sensed her presence.

"So . . . She's back. Time to put our little plan into action." the evil voice said, and began to laugh.

Chapter One END

A/N

Me: Hello, everybody! This is where random stuff will be talked about. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Autor: Foreshadow much? *snicker*

Me: Oh and Autor is here too. Yay. *secretly fangirls*

Autor: Whatever. Why am I not in this chapter? As Fakir's writing advisor, I-

Me: I'm waiting until the third chapter to start having my fun with you *evil chuckle*

Autor: Uh, I'm going to say what I was brought here to say now. *clears throat* The author owns none of the characters of Princess Tutu, or the show itself. She is just using them for her own sick idea of amusement, and the hopeful entertainment of others. She would like to thank everyone who writes Tutu fanfiction, as they are all hugely inspiring. There, I said it. Happy?

Me: Sick idea of amusement? Why you little-

END


	2. Attack

A/N

In which my Drosselmeyer complex makes its first appearance. Much better than the last chapter, but then again I am overly critical of myself.

* * *

Chapter 2

ATTACK

Fakir enjoyed another moment embraced with her, then he slowly pulled away. Although she was blushing furiously, she didn't seem upset. She seemed. . . happy. _Stop it, _he scolded himself, _it's because she's human again, not because of you. Don't go imagining things._

"I don't know how to thank you," Duck whispered, tentatively meeting his eyes.

Fakir brushed a hair out of her eye. "It was the least I could do." he murmured back. He was the one in her debt, not the other way around. Grabbing her hand, he slowly lead her downstairs as she readjusted to her human legs.

"Karon's away on a delivery right now, so we don't have to worry about any awkward explanations. I have to think about something to say about your reappearance, as I told him you were away on family business, and wouldn't be back for a while. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Duck responded. She looked out the window. The only places she had really been to once the story ended were Karon's house and the pond she liked to swim on, and she was curious about what the rest of the town looked like now. "Can we go on a tour? I want to see how much GoldKrone has changed since I last saw it."

"That sounds like a good idea. Wouldn't want you getting lost on your first day back at school, would we?" he teased. He handed Duck her cup and rested against the wall. A movement outside caught his eye, and he turned to see what it was. What Fakir saw nearly made his heart stop beating. A lone crow was perched on the roof of the house right across the street.

_I'm sure it's just a normal crow. There's plenty of those here right?_ he tried to reason. But his gut told him otherwise. So when Duck went upstairs to get ready, he silently attached his sword to his belt. Just because he technically wasn't a knight anymore, it didn't mean he could at least try to protect her.

* * *

When they stepped outside, there was no sign of the crow, and Fakir almost allowed himself to relax. Almost. He kept trying to tell himself that it was nothing, but his mind still lingered on that black bird.

Duck noticed his distraction. "Something wrong?" she asked. He blinked a couple times, then shook his head.

"Nothing. I just really hope that I'm seeing things." He grimaced.

"Um. . . Ok then," Great. A crazy Fakir was the last thing she needed.

"Let's start over there" he said, before she could go further into that topic. He summoned great courage from inside himself, and gently reached out and took her hand, then started walking before he could chicken out and pull away.

She blushed. _Fakir is holding my hand! Well, I guess we are in a relationship now_. Duck wondered what is was going to be like, dating Fakir. She had never really looked at him in a romantic way until the very end of her time as a human, and it wasn't as if they were going to go get ice cream while the Raven was in control of the town. She could see it now: _"Oh, don't mind us, Mr. Raven. We just discovered our true feelings for each other, and would like to spend some time together. You won't even know we're here._ That would have gone over well.

But now that she was human, they could have some boyfriend/girlfriend time together. She couldn't wait.

The town had a peaceful quietness in the early morning light. Though almost no one was up yet, there was still interesting things to be seen. Everything from new flowers to an entirely new shop made Duck smile, which made Fakir smile as well.

Finally, they stopped to rest on a bench in the central plaza. Fakir took a moment to survey his surroundings, then tensed. Near each road out of the plaza, several perched. He silently swore. They had been led right into a trap! He grabbed her arm and pulled her them both off of the bench. They were running before she could protest.

"We have to get to the church!" he cried. Then the mob descended.

* * *

Duck wasn't quite sure what was happening. One moment she was sitting on the bench, enjoying Fakir's presence, the next, she was being pulled towards the large building in front of them while he was shouting something about the church. Now they were surrounded by black beaks, shrieking and clawing at them. _Crows,_ her brain told her. But that was impossible. The Raven was dead, right?

_Damn it!_ Fakir thought as he pulled her closer. Getting separated in this mass of feathers and wings could be lethal. He had no desire for either of them to end up like his parents. He tried to reach for his sword, but the mob was too densely packed for him to move his hands away from his face or Duck's hand without injuring one or the other. Their only hope was to make it to the church. From inside, they could use the catacombs to get into the library, and from there he knew a couple of safe places to hide out in.

_Almost there._ Then sharp claws raked his cheek, leaving him blinded with pain for a moment. Then he envisioned Duck getting ripped to shreds and found the strength to go on. That was never going to happen on his watch.

_Made it._ He grasped one of the handles and pulled with all his strength. The doors didn't even budge.

"They're locked!" Duck screamed.

"Damn!" he cursed. _Looks like I have to fight this one out._ Fakir pushed her behind him and drew his sword.

"That's enough." a familiar voice said before he could attack. The crows retreated to the exits of the plaza immediately. Then the ground started rumbling and the sky grew dark. _No. It can't be… _they both thought as the wings of the Raven unfolded once more.

"Isn't this cute. A failure of a knight trying to protect a little duck. Having some door problems?" Fakir just clenched his teeth in response.

"Someone seems pleased. But did you honestly believe that I would leave them unlocked? I have spent every moment since my downfall plotting this. Do you think I would give you an escape route, even if it is small?"

Duck tried to say something, but was pressed to hard between Fakir and the church doors to choke out more than a "Wha-?"

The knight sensed what she was trying to say. "Just what the hell do you want?" Not her exact words, but it worked.

" I want an iced latte and a medium pizza" The Raven rolled his enormous eyes. "I want my revenge, of course. If it weren't for that duck" he spat the word out "Everything would have worked out perfectly. But she _had_ to interfere. Now Tutu is the one who will provide the heart for my complete resurrection."

Fakir stiffened. "Over my dead body!" he snarled

The Raven's eyes narrowed. "Insolent knight! I should have torn you in two when I had the chance!" Then he stopped. A slow grin spread across his monstrous face, and he began to laugh.

"Very well. Your wish is my command." Two dozen or so raven foot soldiers, like the kind he fought in the underground lake, rose up from the ground. "Kill him."

He spun around to Duck. "No matter what happens," he said quickly "Stay here. I won't let anything happen to you." Fakir turned back towards the crow-people.

"Wait!" she cried, grabbing his arm. He looked back at her. Their eyes met. "I love you." Duck whispered. A brief smile flashed across Fakir's face.

"I love you, too." he replied. Then he turned around and charged the ravens.

Initially, the fight went well. Every raven that came near his sword was shattered into purple dust. But Fakir was beginning to tire, and for every crow-person killed, three more rose to take its place. Finally, one of the creatures preformed a disarming maneuver, and his sword went skittering away.

"Qua-'' She put her hands over her mouth. _Fakir!_

More crows rose up, surrounding him. He grimaced. _Looks like this is the end. I really am a worthless knight._ He glanced at Duck. _Run_, he mouthed to her. Then her closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Their swords rose, and they moved forward, preparing to strike.

"W-wait!" Duck cried desperately. She was crying now. "Please don't hurt Fakir!" An idea popped in her brain. He wasn't going to like it, but it was the only option she had.

The Raven motioned for them to pause. "And why would I do that?"

She took a deep breath and wiped the tears away."Because you'll have me."

Fakir started, realizing what she was saying. "What the hell are you doing?!" he cried. He tried to move towards her, but was knocked to the ground by one of the crow-people.

"Go on,"

"I offer myself and my heart for Fakir's safety." _He once told me to never trust a crow, but I have no choice._

"NO! Please, Duck. There has to be another way!" he shouted, struggling to get to his feet.

Duck turned to face him. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you die." she whispered.

"I'm not worth that. Not this. Please!" He was crying.

She smiled sadly. "You are." A tear fell out of the corner of her eye. "Good-bye."

The Raven smiled evilly "Your terms are accepted. And this is very sweet and all, but I have a schedule to keep, so let's hurry things up."

No. he thought numbly as she was carried away. "Duck…" he whispered as he fell to his knees in a daze. The mouth of the closed, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER 2 END!

* * *

A/N

Me: I'm back!

Autor: …How are you not in a little padded cell right now?

Me: Oh, I've been on the run from them for years ^-^

Autor- Do I even want to know?

Me- No *smirks* You should read my USUK stuff, that's much worse than this.

Autor: Wow, just wow. I'm leaving, before you can do anything else unspeakably evil.

Me: But you were going to do the disclaimer! *door slams* Darn it! Oh well, here it is: I don't own any of the characters from/or the anime Princess Tutu. I'm just using them for the enjoyment of others and myself. I want to thank anyone who writes Princess Tutu for being inspiring, especially _Herr Dosselmeyer's Doll_ by Astale5, which helped inspire this chapter. Now that they boring stuff is over, thank you for reading my fanfiction! Feel free to tell me what you think!


	3. Capture

**In which you discover Mytho's obsession with manners and Drosselmeyer pays me a little visit.**

**I finally got on my lazy bum and finished revising this thing. Sorry for the wait.**

**I just want to say that I know that some of the dialogue in this chapter is very similar to some of that in the show. That was intentional. Err, kinda intentional. R&R please! **

Chapter 3

Capture

_She was dancing a solo pas de deux . A mournful look was on her face. Almost like she was waiting for someone. Waiting for him. He ran towards her, calling her name. She just laughed and danced away into the fog. He pursued her. Finally, he caught up to her in a dimly lit clearing. He held his hand out, inviting her to dance. Tentatively, she reached out. But then long claws erupted from the ground, ensnaring her in its grasp. She screamed, then was dragged down into the darkness._

"NO!" Fakir cried, sitting up quickly.

Autor jumped back. "Ok! If you really want to sleep that badly!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Fakir closed his eyes. "Not you. What-?" Then the events of that morning came crashing down on him. He sprang up.

"Have you seen Duck?" he asked, grabbing Autor by the shoulders.

"No I have not. Wait a minute, does that mean you finished your story? And what on earth are you doing? Here I am, walking to the library, when I see you, just passed out in the middle of the plaza, your sword lying 10 feet away!"

Fakir's shoulders slumped. _So it wasn't a dream. She's really gone. Damn. _He retrieved his sword, then walked back to Autor.

"The Raven appeared and-"

"The Raven? Here?"

"He took Duck." His fists clenched. _This is all my fault. Why couldn't I save her?_

Autor frowned. "Let's go to my house. It looks like you have quite a story to tell."

* * *

Drosselmeyer laughed and clapped his hands together. "Marvelous, simply marvelous. You all played your roles perfectly! Now, show me a most brilliant tragedy, with no regard for your lives!"

Uzura said nothing. She didn't like the way the story was going, but she couldn't betray her creator. Maybe Edel-zura would know what to do. She silently slipped away.

* * *

Autor was silent for a few minutes after hearing Fakir's tale. Finally, he spoke. "You used your sword? Even when you yourself said you were no good as a knight?"

Fakir scowled. "It's not like I had much of a choice!" he snapped. "I couldn't exactly sit down and write a story at the time, could I?"

Autor backed off. He knew Fakir could grow violent in this mood. He had had red marks on his neck for a week to prove it.

"We have to get her back."

"How? You have no idea where The Raven is, and much less how to get her back when you find him."

"Nooo…." Then his eyes lit up. "But I know someone who does!"

"You mean-?" Autor said, pretending he knew just what the heck his friend was talking about.

Fakir nodded. "Rue." Then, upon seeing his face, "Wait, you know her?" He raised an eyebrow.

Autor's face grew red. "W-well I've seen her around" he stuttered "And I heard you talking about her, she used to be Krahe, right?" changing the subject a little too quickly.

Fakir wasn't convinced. "Right. Anyway, Rue will be able to-"

"Able to do what?" a voice asked.

They both spun around. There was Rue, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. Mytho came up behind her, facepalming, a look quite amusing on him.

"Rue, you can't just barge into people's houses!"

"I can if they leave their doors unlocked!" she shot back.

"It's still extremely rude. Not to mention that it scares the crap out of people."

_Lover's banter._ Fakir thought, amused. Seeing Autor's face made his amusement rise.

"Whatever. Hi Fakir. Erm, hi Autor."

"Uh, hello"

_Those two definitely know each other from somewhere._ "What are you doing here?"

She pursed her lips. "I had this gut feeling that we were needed. Plus the nightmares I've been having…" she trailed off, frowning.

"So were packed our bags and came here." picked up Mytho. "Some villagers told us that you were at Autor's place. We came, and discovering the door unlocked, Rue decides to just go on and enter completely uninvited!"

Rue smiled. "Still sore over that one?" She looked around. "Looks like the gang's all here! Wait… where's Duck? Is she human yet?" Her long hair fell into her face as she leaned forward in anticipation.

Fakir winced, fighting tears again. He knew that the question was coming eventually, but it didn't mean that it was easier to explain. Oh lord, Rue was going to kill him.

"She is, or at least was this morning. But-" he quickly summed up the morning's events. The color was gone from both of their faces by the end of his narrative.

"That lying, treacherous, no good-!" Rue had gained quite a foul mouth in her months of absence.

"So all our efforts were for nothing." Mytho murmured "This is impossible. I saw him die with my own eyes! I killed him with this very sword." His hand tightened around the hilt. "How?"

It suddenly dawned on Fakir. "Drosselmeyer."

"What?" said Autor, his head popping up like a dog who hears the word _treat_.

"It must have been Drosselmeyer. Who else would have saved The Raven just for entertainment." He scowled into the wall. _Once I get The Raven, I'm coming for you, Drosselmeyer_.

* * *

"Oh, dear. It appears that my little "secret" is out. Then you should have already assumed that the path to your princess won't be easy, young knight." said the writer in question, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Yes, I have some old puppets and settings that are just dying to be used again. I'm back in business at last…"

He flicked away the gear showing the foursome and summoned a new one. It displayed a scene of gray hills and dancing skeletons. And in the center Duck was dancing gracefully. "You can dance like Princess Tutu here. Not like it will help you get out of your predicament, little Duck."

Drosselmeyer watched as she began a cheerful dance from _Coppelia_, then stumbled into a sorrowful one from _Swan Lake_. With great effort she returned to her original dance, but it was clear she was fighting a losing battle.

"Are you still fighting it? That's good! Keep fighting it until you can't fight it anymore! If you just give up, the story will become boring!" He brought up the other gear again. "Better come to a decision soon. The princess is running out of time."

* * *

"So. What do you suggest we do? asked Autor.

"Well, as I was saying before Rue so kindly interrupted me," he shot a look to the dark-haired girl, who rolled her eyes. "We can get Rue to lead us to The Raven's hideout."

"I knew you were going to say that." she sighed, eyes flickering with some unidentifiable emotion. "O-Ok, but it won't be easy. But what are we going to do when we get there?"

"Uh. . . Improvise?" Fakir said with a sheepish grin.

Mytho piped up. "I'll fight The Raven. Distract him. Meanwhile, you can figure out how to get to his stomach without dying." His tone said, _Good luck with that._

They both nodded. "It might work." said Rue. "The three of us should leave tomorrow morning."

"The four of us." corrected Autor. "You're not leaving without me. I'm the Drosselmeyer expert, and he probably has something unpleasant planned for us. Plus, I can handle myself."

Fakir remembered him blocking an ax with a book during the battle with The Raven. "Very well, you can come."

Mytho stood up. "It's settled then. We leave at dawn."

CHAPTER 3 END

Me: Sooooooo. . . . . . . I still haven't been able to get Autor back. And he's in this chapter and everything! Fortunately, I have a very special guest today. *notices clock stop ticking* Oh goody! Right on time!

Drosselmeyer: Hello? I'm supposed to do the after chapter commentary and disclaimer? Are you crowprincess14?

Me: *squealing* You came!

DM: Anything for a fellow evil writer.

Me: Can you sign my copy of _Prinz und Rabe_? It's unripped-don't tell the bookmen-and everything!

DM: Always nice to meet a fan every once and a while.

Me: Oh, in real life you scare the crap out of me.

DM: What was that?

Me: Nothing, never mind. *innocent grin*

DM: *quick subject change* Is that the time? Let us wrap this up: The author owns none of the characters from Princess Tutu or the anime itself. She is only using them for the entertainment of herself, myself, and others. She would like to thank the rest of the fanficers out there for being inspiring , and anyone who has read this far in the first place. Gotta go! Oh yeah, and I think Autor ratted you out to Fakir, so you might want to hide. Good bye!

Me: Wait, what?

*vanishes*

Me: Son of a-! Please excuse me while I hunt down that treacherous scum then proceed to lock myself into the basement.

END


End file.
